Nintendo in software piracy smackdown

Aharon Etengoff, 14th May 2010

Nintendo has filed a civil lawsuit against NXPGame for allegedly selling illegal video game copiers.

According to Nintendo spokesperson Jodi Daugherty, the copiers were used to download, play and distribute unauthorized copies of DS/DSi games.

"Using game copiers to play unauthorized downloaded games is illegal and it's wrong. Piracy is especially harmful to smaller developers," said Daugherty.

"When their creative works are stolen and copied illegally, some companies find it difficult to survive economically."

Daugherty explained that the owner of NXPGame had agreed to shut down his website, but soon opened an "identical business" at a different URL.

"Despite the repeated attempts to get NXPGame to cease its illegal activities, the company and its owner continue to operate multiple websites that sell illegal game copiers. Nintendo asserts that NXPGame is willfully infringing on the company's intellectual property rights," she added.

No doubt.

But how effective will this latest lawsuit be in curtailing the widespread practice of pirating Nintendo games?

"Now, I don't condone piracy in any way, shape or form. If you want a game, pay for it...[But] game copiers for Nintendo cartridges are readily available.

"It seems to me that the only way that Nintendo is going to put a stop to this game copying epidemic is to change the cartridge format, beefing up the copy protection. Sure, that's likely to be broken at some point, but it'll slow things down a bit."